Page 100 of Resurrection

Arguing with him seems pointless, so I pass Lucas to him, and he takes him with ease. “Sofia’s lucky.” I smile.

He chuckles. “She is. But so am I. That’s why our marriage works.”

We navigate the path back up to the surface in a single-file line. The house is dark, and the only lights we have are from Finn’s phone and the kid’s light in the lead. When we get to the front door, Jay grabs the diaper bag on our way out.

We trudge to the car, mostly in silence. The kid with Finn has my purse swinging from one of his hands and our two overnight bags in the other.

“My phone,” I whisper, realizing that leaving it behind tells anyone who comes that we were at the house.

Finn takes it out of his back pocket and waggles it. I lean into him, and his arm circles me, securing me tight to his side. Once we’re at the car, he opens the door and gestures for me to get in.

“We don’t have a car seat.” I stare at Finn and then at Jay with a hint of panic building in my chest. At every parenting hurdle, I’m stumbling.

“It’s all right,” Jay says. “The hotel isn’t far. He’ll be okay. It’s the least of our worries right now.”

When my father tries to slide in behind me, Finn puts his hand on my father’s chest. “Nah,” Finn says. “You can walk.”

“You’ll need my help to get Lucas out of the country.”

Finn shakes his head. “What do you think I’ve been doing today?” His gaze sears my father. “I got a lawyer—a good fucking lawyer. And I greased some wheels. We fly out with Lucas and a Russian passport tomorrow.”

My father frowns and crosses his arms. “You were going to run away with him?”

Finn chuckles. “I don’t run. From anything. I would have taken Carys and Lucas and waltzed out the front door in the morning. There would have been nothing Eric could have done.”

My father’s gaze narrows in response, but he says nothing. I’m not sure it would have been as easy as Finn’s making it seem, but we’ll never know. We no longer have to worry about Eric. It surprises me I don’t experience even an ounce of sadness over his death. At one time, I would have grieved his loss. Never in the same way, with the same intensity I did over Finn. But still, his absence would have left a mark. Now? I’m relieved the emotional manipulation is over. We’re free.

With that, Finn climbs into the car behind me. Jay shuts the door and gets in beside the kid up front.

“He’s walking? We’re leaving him?” The kid’s voice shakes.

“Yes.” I gaze out the window, away from my father’s dejected silhouette. “I should have done it a long time ago.”

Silence fills the car as we drive. Every once in a while, Lucas stirs, and I remember we don’t have a car seat. The situation is so precarious.

“Was it Demid?” I ask.

Finn grimaces and shrugs. “Seems like. It might be my fault he found you. I called Hagen to get leads on politicians and lawyers to approach with favors or bribes.”

“Hagen sold you out?” I frown.

“If the price was right, he’d murder his own father.”

I raise my eyebrows at Finn but say nothing. He allowed his father to be murdered for free. Not exactly a damning comment, given the source.

The baby wails, and Jay opens the diaper bag and starts doing something up front. A few minutes later, he passes back a bottle.

“What’s this?” I turn the bottle to catch the passing lights out the window.

“Formula. Galina was using it to top him up at night.”

“Oh.” I stare at the bottle. “I think maybe you should be this baby’s mother.”

Jay laughs. “You’ll be fine.”

“We just left a shootout. We have no car seat. I would have forgotten to grab the diaper bag if you hadn’t thought of it. I didn’t realize Galina was using any formula.” Tears spring to my eyes. “I don’t know how to feed my baby.”

He turns in his seat so we make eye contact in the dim light. Finn rubs my leg in soothing motions but doesn’t speak. He probably understands less than me.

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